Multimedia is a term used to describe the ability to combine different kinds of information storage and/or communication media, such as sounds, video, text, music, animations, charts, maps, etc., into colorful, interactive presentations, business applications, games, etc. Examples of information storage media include books, phonograph records, audio and videotapes, microfilm, and magnetic and optical disks.
Audio and video clips require enormous amounts of storage space, and for this reason, until recently, programs could not use any but the most rudimentary animations and sounds. The enormous storage capacity of current storage devices such as the compact disc read only memory (CD-ROM) changes all that. When using simultaneous clips from several different media, the user's senses of sight, sound, and touch are merged into an astonishingly real experience.
Faster computers and rapid proliferation of multimedia programs will probably forever change the way people get information. The computer's ability to instantly retrieve a tiny piece of information from the midst of a huge mass of data has always been one of its most important uses. Since video and audio clips can be stored alongside text on a single CD-ROM disc, a whole new way of exploring a subject is possible. By using hyperlinks, materials can be presented to people so that they can peruse it in a typically human manner, by association.
Although there are technologies today that allow for the implementation of multimedia, current implementations do not address the incorporation of multimedia with the traditional form of office communication, the paper document. Since most communications within an office today are still made with the traditional paper documents such as memos and notes, it would be advantageous to be able to add multimedia to the paper documents and enable the office user to convey the sound and emotion with the paper document.